


Unmasked

by swiftishere



Series: MSA One-Shots [37]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, diverges somewhere between Ghost and Hellbent, exactly where is ambiguous, he doesn't know what's going on but he knows one thing and it's he'll die for his friends, protective arthur rights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29917464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swiftishere/pseuds/swiftishere
Summary: Lewis's identity is revealed earlier than he wanted, and Arthur's reaction is... confusing. It's certainly not the reaction of amurderer.Stranger still, when another magical beast shows up, Arthur tries to...protect him?
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Series: MSA One-Shots [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1440190
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Unmasked

The song and dance goes like this. 

Arthur is snared and trapped. He sees the ghost, and panics, and tries to run, and finds for a while that he can’t. Lewis pursues him slowly, patiently, letting him wear himself down. Then he escapes. Is rescued. Whatever it happens to be. That’s how their routine goes. 

Lewis is… frustrated. Right? That’s how he _should_ feel. He’s had this little rat almost cornered so many damn times, only for him to slip away though some little crack in the trap he’d forgotten to close. That’s frustrating. His ultimate goal, his death’s mission, being dangled in front of him over and over and then snatched away. 

So why, as he slowly advances towards the cliff contained in the basement of his mansion, does he feel like he’s fighting some invisible force? Why is it harder and harder to keep his arm steady, to keep his grip tight on his shirt? 

The little bastard is squirming, and at one point he grabs onto his sleeve and there’s a brief flash of fire. He doesn’t think too much of it until Arthur’s eyes widen and he goes suddenly still, no longer even attempting to hold on. _  
_

_“Lewis?”_ he whispers, awed and horrified in equal measure. 

For some reason the name, spoken in that small voice, feels like a knife through his heart. He doesn’t _recoil_ \- he’s stronger than that - but he pauses. 

He’s… surprised. A little confused. Arthur hadn’t recognized him before this? He’s pausing for that. 

But Arthur’s reaction seems _wrong_. He isn’t afraid because now he’s receiving justice - he looks… _confused_ , _horribly_ so, his brow knotting and his lip starting to tremble. _  
_

_“Why?”_ he asks, in that same broken voice that hurts to hear. “Wh- why are you _doing th-this?”_

… _Why?_

The set around them dissolves, his connection to the conjuration shattering like glass. He asked him _why?_ Like this is _surprising?_ He’s still making that _face_ at him, like this is some kind of terrible, earth-shattering break of character, and he wants him to _stop_. He wants him to shut _up_ , but at the same time he can’t bring himself to raise his arm again and actually _put him down_. 

His grip on his shirt fails, too, and he goes tumbling to the floor, hitting soft grass a few feet below instead of the vertigo-inducing long drop into spikes that he was _supposed_ to get. _Why._ He won’t even _run_ now, he’s just sitting there and looking up at him, as paralyzed as Lewis feels.

Slowly, hesitantly, he rises to his feet, still staring at him almost… _awestruck_. Lewis thinks he should move back, but he stays frozen. Arthur’s hand raises up slowly, towards his face, shaking– 

–and then his gaze snaps behind Lewis, reacting to a barely-audible noise. 

The next few moments happen so fast Lewis can barely process them. Arthur’s hand closes the distance and _shoves_ him– 

…behind him? Suddenly Arthur’s in front of him, back turned to him, both arms raised slightly, and in front of them both is… Vivi’s little pet dog, it looks like. 

But he feels a wave of static run across his form at the sight of it. Raw power, probably stronger than he is, contained in the little pup. _Except_ , Lewis’s instincts tell him, _it’s not a pup, and it’s certainly not little._

Arthur’s breathing has picked up even faster, so shallow it’s almost nonexistent, and he’s visibly shaking. This… this _creature_ , it _terrifies_ him. When it steps forward he flinches back – but he stays firmly in front of Lewis. Almost like he’s… protecting him. From… _whatever_ this thing is. 

“Arthur,” says the not-dog in a low, commanding voice, “get out of my way.” 

His shoulders shift, but his feet stay firmly planted. “ _No.”_

He huffs, sounding more _irritated_ than anything. “It clearly isn’t really Lewis. Now step _aside_ so I can get rid of it.” 

Lewis bristles at that – _excuse him?_ – but Arthur remains unmoving. His voice is so quiet it’s almost inaudible, but it’s still steeled with determination when he says, “I- I _won’t_ let you hurt him.” 

He can easily feel the aggression curling off – _Mystery_ , that’s his name – but who it’s directed at, he isn’t exactly sure. He’s almost expecting him to leap for Arthur’s throat next, but after another moment of silent staring, he simply turns and barks, “Vivi! The wraith is back!” 

Arthur flinches back again at the raised voice, and before he can stop himself Lewis puts a steadying hand on his shoulder. 

Perhaps it’s simply guilt that’s driving Arthur to stay in front of him, guarding him from the magical threat. A desire not to see what he did once happen a second time. But… his instincts tell him it’s _not_. _Of course Arthur’s protecting you_ , says some part of his mind, even as the other objects that he _murdered him, why would he care what happened to him now?_

But Arthur was surprised to see him – didn’t even understand _why he was doing this_ – and even on the verge of panic his _very first instinct_ at the sight of a threat was to get between him and it. 

Does he not remember killing him? What’s going _on?_


End file.
